Coromandel driver was conscious after train crash, Goods train guard alive

The guard of the goods train which was hit by the Coromandel Express train on Friday evening narrowly escaped death as he was outside.

The driver of the ill-fated Coromandel Express which derailed on Friday in Odisha's Balasore killing 270 people was conscious after the crash and was in a condition to confirm that he got a green signal, the Railway Board has confirmed. Jaya Varma Sinha, the Railway Board member of operation and business development, recalled the conversation that she had with the Coromandel driver. "He was conscious at the time. He could only say that he got a green signal. After that, his condition became serious and he is now hospitalised," Jaya Varma Sinha said on Sunday. Read | How Coromandel Express derailed, set off triple-train collision, explains Railway Board

Coromandel Express got a green signal but there was a goods truck on the line which it hit killing 270 people. (PTI)

GN Mohanty was the loco pilot of the Coromandel Express Hajari Behera was the assistant loco pilot. Both were severely injured.

"The TT of the Yesvantpur told me he heard an abnormal sound coming from the back. He felt some obstruction was coming. He did not understand what it was. After the A1 coach, there were two general coaches and the guards' coach. The last two coaches got derailed," Jaya Varma said.

The guard of the goods train which was hit by the Coromandel Express was not inside the carriage at the time of the crash. "It is providential that his life was saved. According to railway rules, the guard and the driver of a goods train ensure the safety of the train when it is parked somewhere. So these people were outside the train and were inspecting it. They were doing their duties," Varma said.

The Coromandel Express piled on the brake van of the goods train where the guard was supposed to be. "It is God's grace that the guard was not there at that time," Varma said.

'Coromandel driver had no fault'

As the preliminary investigation points to some 'signalling interference' which made the Coromandel take the loop line where the goods train was parked, the Railway Board has given a clean chit to the Coromandel Express driver. The train was within its speed limit, did not jump any signal, the Railway Board officials confirmed.

The 4 lines at the Bahanagabazar Railway station where the tragic triple train collision took place.

What might have gone wrong with Coromandel Express

If a train comes to the loop line, there is an operating point. It is also checked whether the line is occupied or not. The interlocking system helps in ascertaining these two things, principal executive director of Signalling Sandeep Mathur. "When the point takes the train to the main line, the signal is green. When the point takes the train to the loop line, the signal is yellow. This is how the interlocking system works," Mathur said adding that at the Bahanagabazar station, the system is electronic.

'Interlocking system tamper-proof, but possible...'

Varma explained that the electronic interlocking system is a fail-safe one and even if it fails, the signal is supposed to turn red. "But as it happened here, there might have been some interferences. Not talking about this accident, but in general, it is possible that someone cut the cable unknowingly during some digging work. Or, if there was a short circuit -- these are not regular occurrences. All machines are 99.9% fail-safe, but the 1% chance of malfunctioning remains," Varma said adding that the people who might be responsible for this have been identified.